Increase benefits for Social Security

" Oh flippin' WHAAA. why weren't you crying about all this when Bush took half his presidency off for vacations? hmmm? maybe y'all need to take a good long look at yourselves and how racist you all sound when you complain about the same thing the white folk did all the time. "

" Talk to yourself in the mirror Bored. It is your nasty response that keeps racism alive.
You clearly are missing Lynn's point. It is not about racism it is about the elderly white or black, disabled white or black persons needs for survival.
Many of the disabled and elderly are forced to live on half of what a person who works full time at one job and makes minimum wage lives on. "

" The Cost of living Index (COLA) went down this last year. When the COLA go up, you get a increase.
In theory the money you now get so go farther. You should be thankful social security was not decreased when the COLA goes down.

The fact the president or anyone else is going on vacation does not enter into the way the COLA is calculated. Your bringing up the vacation only makes you sound like a whiner. Blame the economy not vacations. How stupid! "

" Clearly, bored and Nancy have no compassion for others who are truely disabled(physically and/or mentally). They say, "What goes around comes around". The odds are in your favor that you too will be elderly, disabled, have a disabled family member or have to rely on others generosity for survival. Only then you will understand how it feels. "

" The annual social security benefits increase (as well as adjustments to various income tax rates) is based on an artificial cost of living index, which is NOT representative of true costs. It is particular hurtful to those who rely on social security and disability benefits, while their basic costs (food, utilities, rents, medical) have sky-rocketed, while the government reports demonstrably fictitious inflation rates.

As to the remark about Obama's vacations, and the ridiculous accusations of racism and whining: Obama campaigned on the basis of "spreading the wealth" and NOT increasing taxes for anyone but "the rich". Since taking office he has done the opposite, increasing or advocating increasing various taxes and fees that disproportionately affect the poor, spent trillions of dollars that drive up the costs of goods, and continued to blame the previous administration for problems created by the Democratic take-over of Congress two years ago, and continuing today.

In contrast, President Bush and the Republicans reduced taxes for everyone (rich and poor), which in turn created jobs and wealth for everyone (rich and poor), while radically increasing benefits for the poor such as the earned-income tax credit. The economy was booming until the Democrats took over Congress two years ago.

Bush took a lot of expensive vacations too, but he didn't do it during a nation-wide recession, during which poor and middle-class citizens are struggling to make ends meet.

This has nothing whatsoever to do with racism, and everything to do with the false promises, hypocrisy and bigotry of the Democrats and the current administration. "

" The Democratic majority in Congress voted themselves a big fat raise this year, citing increased costs as their rationalization. Of course, they use a different cost-of-living index than the Social Security Administration and the IRS. The latter two use an index which is much lower than the actual inflation rate, so that Congress can pretend that benefits and tax rates are indexed, without impacting government revenues.

Another shining example of how little the Democratic Party actually cares about those who voted them into office. "